Roanoke, the first
English colony in the
New World, was founded at
Roanoke Island in what was then
Virginia (now
North Carolina,
United States) in
1586. Some 90 men, 17 women, and 9 children (including
Virginia Dare, the first child born in North America to English parents) disappeared; there was no sign of a struggle or battle of any kind, and the people seemed to have left suddenly in the middle of other tasks. The only clue was the word "Croatoan" carved on to a tree. White took this to mean that they had moved to Croatoan Island, but no evidence of them was found there either. What became of them is still a mystery; and Roanoke is often referred to as the "Lost Colony."
